Reclining chair



T. F. KELLY RECLINING CHAIR Oct. 3, 1933.

Filed Jan. 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR vfiswLY ATTORNEY Oct. 3, 1933. R KELLY 1,928,857

RECLINING CHAIR Filed Jan. 25 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 3, 1933 PATENT OFFICE RECLINING CHAIR Thomas F. Kelly, Clinton, Iowa, assignor ofl one-half to William J. C. Volckman, Clinton,

Iowa

Application January 25, 1932. Serial No. 588,778

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to improvements in reclining chairs of the class in which the back is pivoted on the chair frame so that it may be tilted from a normal, substantially upright position rearwardly into inclined position, and it relates more particularly to reclining chairs of the type wherein the seat is slidable and the back is connected thereto and is yieldably supported so that it may be tilted rearwardly into more or less inclined position automatically by the mere pressure of the body of the occupant against the chair back.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide means capable of being set, at the will of the user, either in a position to permit use of the chair as a reclining chair or in another position to lock the pivoted back against reclining movement and thus cause the chair to remain rigid, thereby enabling the same chair to go be used either as a reclining chair or as an ordinary rigid chair, as may be desired, and in the preferred embodiment of the invention, such means may be used to limit the reclining movement of the back to any desired extent.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an improved construction for slidably supporting the seat in the chair frame and novel and im proved means for pivotally and removably mounting the back in the frame and pivotally connecting it to the sliding seat.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations and arrangements of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the features of novelty being pointed out particularly in the claim at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings:--

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a reclining chair embodying the present invention, portions being broken away for clearness in illustration;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken longitudinally through the chair frame and seat, indicating the reclining movements of the back and the corresponding sliding movements of the seat Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line an of Fig. 2 and looking upwardly;

Fig. 4 is a detail section on an enlarged scale and in perspective, taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a collective view showing in perspective parts of the detachable hinge connection between the seat and back; and

Fig. 6 is a collective view showing in perspective a portion of one of the rear uprights of the frame and the liner for the groove therein which receives the pivot pin of the back.

The present invention is shown in the present instance applied to a reclining chair of the class shown and described in Letters Patent No. 677,234 granted June 25, 1901 to W. J. Kelly. As shown, 1 represents the chair frame, 2 the chair back and 3 the chair seat. The chair frame comprises side members 4, rear uprights 5 and front and rear cross members 6 and 7 rigidly connecting them. The seat 3, which may be upholstered in any desired manner, is carried by a base which comprises side members 8 which are arranged between the side members 4 of the frame and are rigidly connected by front and rear cross members 9 and 10 and an intermediate cross member 11. The back 2, which may be upholstered in any desired manner, comprises side members 12 the lower portions of which are received between the upper ends of the rear uprights 5 of the frame, these side members of the back having pivot pins or studs 13 secured therein and projecting laterally therefrom, the inner side of each rear upright 5 being formed with a groove 14 the upper end of which is open at the rear of the upright to receive the respective pivot pin on the back and the remainder of which groove extends substantially vertically, this portion of the groove being preferably provided with a channel shaped liner 15 of metal or other suitable material to minimize wear incident to the vertical movement of the respective pin 13. The back 2 is mounted to swing about the pivot pins 13 from a normal or substantially upright position rearwardly into a reclining position, and the seat is supported to move forwardly in the frame, it being operatively connected to the back so that its forward movement will take place as the result of the rearward swing of the back into reclining position, the pivot pins 13 on the back moving vertically in the grooves 14 in the rear frame uprights to correspond with the concurrent forward movement of the seat, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Means provided by the present invention for supporting the seat to slide forwardly or rearwardly in the frame comprises a pair of rails 16 the outer edges of which are fitted into and are glued or otherwise fixed in grooves 17 formed in the inner faces of the side members 4 of the frame, the inner edges of these rails fitting slidably in grooves 18 which are formed in the outer sides of the side members 8 of the base of the seat, these rails supporting the weight of the seat and spacing the seat between the side members 4 of the frame and also preventing tilting of the seat under the forceapplied thereto by the back or any other force that may be imposed thereon. It will be understood that one of these rails 16 is provided at each side of the seat.

The seat is operatively connected to the back by a pair of hinges. Each of these hinges comprises a member 19 which is rigidly secured to the respective side member 8 of the base of the seat, and a cooperating hinge member 20 which is pivotally connected at 21 to the hinge member 19. Each hinge member 20 is preferably straight in form and it is slidable endwise into the correspondingly formed channel 21 of a guide plate 22, this guide plate being rigidly secured by screws as shown or otherwise to the outer side of the respective side member 12 of the back so that it will form with said side member of the back a socket to removably receive the respective hinge member 20. The guide plate 22 is preferably so secured on the respective side member 12 of the back that the channel 21 therein is in substantial alignment with the respective pivot pin 13 so that when the hinge member 20 is inserted endwise into the channel 21 of the guide plate the upper end of this hinge member will come into abutting engagement with the respective pivot pin 13 and will thereby support the weight of the back and limit its descent relatively to the chair frame. The hinge members 20 are of such length that when the pivot pins 13 rest upon their upper ends, these pivot pins will be located in the vertical portions of the respective grooves 14 in the rear uprights of the frame. By this construction, the back may be readily removed from the frame and detached from the seat by lifting the back until the pivot pins 13 reach the upper ends of the grooves 14 and then swinging the back rearwardly, the pivot pin 13 being thus removed from the respective grooves 14 in the rear uprights of the frame, and by continuing the lifting of the back, the guide plates 22 will be removed from the hinge members 20. The back may thus be readily removed for shipment, storage or other purposes and it may be replaced by a reversal of the operation just described. During rearward or forward swinging movements of the back, which take place about the pivot pins 13 as a fulcrum, the hinge members 20 act as levers to slide the seat 3 forwardly or rearwardly, the pivot pins 13 moving vertically in the vertical portions of the grooves 14 during the rearward or forward swing of the back, in conformity with the forward and rearward sliding movements of the seat.

The back 2 is held yieldingly in it normal or substantially upright position, at which time the seat will be in its normal or rear position, by a tension spring 23 one end of which is attached at 24 to the rear cross member 7 of the frame and the other end of which is attached at 25 to the intermediate cross member 11 of the seat base, this spring being of such a strength that it will counterbalance the weight of the back and normally retain it .in its substantially upright position but its force may be overcome by the occupant seated in the chair by straightening the body to assume a reclining position, the upper portion of the body then exerting suflicient pressure on the upper portion of the chair back to tilt the latter automatically into a more or less reclining position, as may be desired, it being understood that the seat will move forwardly in conformity with the rearward tilt of the back, thereby causing the counterbalancing spring 23 to be stretched. An air check or dash pot is provided to prevent a too abrupt return of the back to normal or substantially upright position when relieved of the weight of the occupant, this check or dash pot comprising a cylinder 26 the rear end of which is closed and secured to the cross ,member 7 of the frame and a cupped or valved piston reciprocating in the cylinder so that it is freely movable forwardly therein but compresses air in the rear end of the cylinder during its rearward movement, the piston having its rod 27 attached as at 28 to the intermediate cross member 11 of the seat base, the rear or closed end of the cylinder having a small vent 26' for the escape of air therefrom. This air check or-dash pot will permit unimpeded forward movement of the chair seat as the back is moved into a reclining position but will retard the rearward movement of the chair seat and consequently the forward swing of the chair back toward normal or upright position under the recoil of the spring 23. The operation of the counterbalancing spring 23 and air check or dash pot is the same as 'in the Kelly patent above referred to, so that further description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

The present invention provides means whereby the chair may be used as a reclining chair as hereinbefore described, or it may be used as an ordinary rigid or non-reclining chair, as may be desired by the user. the present instance for accomplishing this purpose comprises a pair of stop or look plates 29 each of which is formed with a longitudinal slot 30 to receive a pair of screws 31 which are in- The means provided in serted into the lower edges of the respective side members 8 of the seat base so that these stop or lock plates may be-adjusted longitudinally on the seat base and in the direction of movement thereof. The forward end of each stop or look plate is turned downwardly to provide a lug 32 which is in line with the rear edge of the front cross member 6 of the chair frame. These stop or look plates and the slots therein are of sumcient length that when they are set in their rearmost positions, the lugs 32 thereon will be fully retracted from the firm cross member 6 and the seat may then move forwardly to its full extent and, in consequence, the back of the chair will be free to swing to the full extent of its reclining movement, and these stop or lock plates may be secured in such adjusted positions by tightening of the screws 31. However, when it is desired to use the chair as a rigid or non-reclining one, the screws 31 of the respective lock plates are loosened, the lock plates are moved forwardly until the lugs 32 on their forward ends abut against the rear edge of the cross member 6 of the chair frame, and the screws 31 of the respective lock plates are then tightened. The lock plates will then lock the seat against any forward movement, and due to the operative connection between the seat and the back, the latter will be locked in its normal substantially upright position or against any reclining movement. By

slotting the lock plates longitudinally as shown,-

these look plates may also be employed to limit the reclining movement of the chair back to any desired extent less than its full reclining movement, by setting the lock plates at points intermediately between their rearmost and foremost back comprising pivotally connected hinge members one of which is fixed to the seat and a guide fixed to the back in alignment with the pivot pin thereon to removably receive the other hinge member and direct it into abutting engagement with said pivot pin on the back.

THOMAS F. KELLY. 

